Governor prods airlines to help tourism-based island economies

Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio on Friday prodded airlines servicing Northern Marianas and other islands in the region to help their tourism economies recover from the two-year downturn in visitor arrivals by maintaining their direct link with key Asian countries.

Throwing support behind a plan to create a regional airline for Micronesia, the governor said the government needs all the assistance from various carriers to promote the island to the international market.

“It’s only fair also… that when our economy is not that good, they should try to assist us,” Tenorio told reporters in an interview. “When they are making huge profits they don’t consider assisting us. It’s about time that when we need their help they should help us.”

Local legislators have joined efforts by other leaders in the region to push the creation of the unified air service following the drastic downsizing by Continental Micronesia — the largest carrier in the Western Pacific in the last 30 years.

Air transportation has emerged a major problem in the region since the financial turmoil in Asia, the most important source of tourists for most Micronesian islands, affected CNMI, Guam, Palau and other key destinations here.

Although he backed the plan being proposed in forum such as the Association of Pacific Island Legislatures (APIL), Tenorio said the proposal should also consider existing airlines which have not wavered in their desire to service the region.

“I hope that they would take into consideration those airlines which have been providing service to the CNMI. OF course, we would like to see the airlines also to provide us the needed direct flight out of other countries and to assist also our brothers and sisters in the Micronesian region,” the local chief executive said.

APIL has stepped up efforts to realize the plan which has been touted since last year on the heels of Continental’s decision to cut back the number of flights in what company executives defend as a business move due to shrinking passenger traffic to the islands.

The plans calls for feasibility studies aimed at laying down the groundwork for the regional carrier as well as establishment of advisory council that will serve as a direct link between airline companies and representatives of the regional body.

Micronesian governments have increasingly become worried over the state of air transportation in the region as their visitor industry has relied on the efficiency of the service to bring in more tourists from such countries as Japan, South Korea and other Asian nations.